Far Cry

Far Cry was a revelation in 2004, because it showed that a shooter didn't have to be just a series of corridors. Playing former sailor Jack Carver, the player ends up on a tropical archipelago where he was originally only supposed to ferry a journalist, and soon discovers that mercenaries working for a dubious scientist have taken over the islands. The environment is open and readable over long distances, and the game cleverly makes use of that: through binoculars the player can mark patrols, plan a route, and decide whether to break into a camp at night, arrive by boat, or go around it through the jungle.

Combat is merciless and fast. Enemies aim well, call in reinforcements, and behave aggressively, so a direct assault against superior numbers usually ends badly. The game therefore rewards patience, use of elevation, and vehicles ranging from a buggy to a boat with a mounted machine gun. Later sections introduce mutated enemies who pick up the pace and shift the action into laboratory interiors; this change remains a subject of debate to this day, since it takes away the game's greatest strength, namely freedom.

Technically, it was a showcase for the first CryEngine. Sweeping views of the sea, dense vegetation, quality water reflections, and sharp long-distance visibility weren't common in games at the time, and Far Cry quickly became a standard fixture of graphics card benchmarks. The sound of the jungle, the distant calls of patrols, and tense music round out the feeling of isolation in a foreign environment. Reviews were very favorable, and the game's success led both to further entries under the Ubisoft banner and, indirectly, to the creation of Crysis. Today Far Cry is still interesting as a blueprint for open-world shooters, though it's noticeably harsher and less forgiving than its more modern successors. Saving is limited, enemies don't forgive mistakes, and the player has to reckon with the fact that many a plan will fall apart in the very first minute. For anyone who enjoys tactical planning and freedom of approach, though, it remains a valuable experience and, at the same time, an important milestone in the genre's history.